If you’re starting the Thanksgiving holiday days early, this may be the first chance to feast your eyes on a team with much hype surrounding it.

The Vanderbilt Commodores come into Monday’s 2:30 EST game against St. John’s  19th overall in the new AP rankings and a slot better on kenpom.com.

The eye test shows an NBA Lottery prospect, Damian Jones, budding as a post presence that demands the ball.

Wade Baldwin, who has a little Shannon Brown pop to his point guard game, leads the team in scoring.

Riley LaChance is a pure shooter.

We in the blogosphere are also buzzing about the Commodores.  For example, the Three-Man-Weave has them biting at the ankles as the number two team in the SEC.

Before we crown Kevin Stallings as SEC Coach of the Year, the ghosts of the Commodores’ past remind us of 2011-2012.

The Commodores came firing into the tournament after its first conference championship in 61 years.  They were loaded with senior talent—Festus Ezeli, Lance Goulbourne, Brad Tinsley, Steve Tchiengang and Jeffery Taylor.  Vandy went one-and-done, suffering a first weekend loss to Wisconsin.

Tweet your thoughts on Monday’s Maui performance by Vanderbilt.  Give a shout to @CBBEyeTest.